{"id":39,"date":"2010-10-23T08:15:47","date_gmt":"2010-10-23T08:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cantusfirmus\/?p=39"},"modified":"2010-10-23T08:28:21","modified_gmt":"2010-10-23T08:28:21","slug":"the-eyes-have-it-the-conductors-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cantusfirmus\/2010\/10\/23\/the-eyes-have-it-the-conductors-arsenal\/","title":{"rendered":"The eyes have it: the conductor’s arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

A series looking at the art of the choral conductor.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As remarked in the previous post<\/a>, the conductor\u2019s job is made difficult by the fact that, of all the performers, you are the only one unable to make a sound. All those exhortations you\u2019ve given in rehearsals, all those encouragements you\u2019ve uttered, all those points you\u2019ve flagged up as\u00a0looming up\u00a0ahead whilst in mid-phrase \u2013 you can\u2019t do any of that in performance.<\/p>\n

\"Conducting\"So, what have you got as a conductor ?<\/p>\n

Your hands are the most obvious tools: at\u00a0their most functional, the right-hand articulates the beat, the left-hand gestures to bring people in. The left-hand has an additional role, in also crafting the nature of the sound. But the expression comes in the beat as well, in the manner in which the right hand beats the time. Depending on how you give the beat with the right hand, the resultant sound will be different: a brisk beat will engender a crisp sound in the performers, a gentle beat will elicit a more languid sound and so on. The left hand adds an additional dimension to the shaping of\u00a0the sound, and can also be used to guide the unfolding phrase, leading the singers through a sustained phrase, or drawing them together for sudden silences; opening wide for greater forte<\/em> or closing gently for a delicate pianissimo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The conductor\u2019s eyes are a particularly effective tool of communication; you use them to glance at a voice-part to alert them to the fact that they are coming in shortly,\u00a0and look directly at\u00a0performers when they come in; they can also express the nature of the sound you\u2019re expecting \u2013 a fierce glare for a dramatic moment, half-closed eyes for a moment of profound beauty, and so on. I recall once playing the piano in a contemporary music ensemble, and waiting to come in; at the moment I was due to play, the conductor\u2019s gaze struck me like a blow and the conducting hand shot out like a rocket towards me: I played the chord with perhaps more percussive force than in rehearsal, which was just the effect he wanted in the performance.<\/p>\n

The conductor\u2019s face is\u00a0 also important, and is perhaps the least voluntarily controlled yet most responsive aspect; as you are moved by what you are conducting, so your face can\u2019t help but respond to the emotional nature of the moment.<\/p>\n

Here’s an example of Leonard Bernstein conducting with nothing but his eyebrows, almost: from 3′ 46” onwards, in the encore, he gives the orchestra complete freedom, and gestures only with his face: and how exuberantly the orchestra responds.<\/p>\n